International Experts Offer Free Sustainable Business Seminar

HONOLULU — The community is invited to attend "Business for a Better Planet," a free seminar led by Dr. Brian F. Nattrass and Mary E. Altomare Nattrass, internationally renowned advisors on environmentally sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility, on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004, at 2 p.m. in Kuykendall Auditorium (Rm. 101) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The Nattrasses are well-known co-authors of three books on the theory and practice of socially responsible corporate leadership, including the highly acclaimed "Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability Step by Natural Step" (2002) and best-selling "The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporation" (1999). Dr. Nattrass has been featured in articles in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Small Business, and Venture.

The achievement of a sustainable competitive advantage in a time of hyper-competition and rapid change in all markets requires broad-based innovation and improvement in resource productivity throughout the value chain. The Nattrasses‘ presentation will explore the concepts of "natural capitalism" and demonstrate how well-known organizations such as Nike, Starbucks, Whistler Resort, the city of Seattle, the U.S. Army and NASA are positioning themselves for lasting business success through a commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability.

The Nattrasses also will be the featured speakers at "The Maui Lab: First Annual Sustainability Forum 2004," on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004, at 1 p.m. in the Kaaike Room (Rm. 105) at Maui Community College. For more information on this event, contact MCC at 984-3347 or six@hawaii.edu.

Both events are part of the UH Sustainable Hawaiʻi series. They are sponsored by the UH Office of Sustainability, the UH Sea Grant College Program‘s Center for Smart Building and Community Design, Maui Community College and the Honolulu Weekly. For more information or to arrange interviews with the speakers, contact the UH Office of Sustainability at 956-9346 or sustain@hawaii.edu.

Public parking for the Oʻahu seminar is available for $3 in the UH Parking Structure off Dole Street (go to http://www.hawaii.edu/parking/images/visitor3.pdf for a map of the parking and venue). Attendees may arrive early to enjoy a delicious, healthful vegetarian lunch at the adjacent Sustainability Courtyard‘s Ono Pono Café.